Big Red gets back on track, bests Toronto for second time
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TORONTO -- The Steubenville girls basketball team righted the ship against Toronto.
After two straight defeats, Big Red built a double-digit advantage in the first quarter against the Red Knights and never looked back, en route to a 59-24 victory Thursday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium to sweep the season series.
Big Red led wire to wire, and the visitors led by as many as 36 points in the fourth.
"We play hard on defense," Big Red (11-5) head coach Jeff Lombardo said. "We played aggressive. We wanted to play aggressive defense. We wanted to get some easy baskets.
"We did make some mental mistakes. In the first half, we got a lot of good looks, but we could not finish."
Big Red scored in double digits in all four quarters, while limiting Toronto to single digits in each quarter.
"I said before the game that they were bigger than us, they were quicker than us, and we were going to have to be more physical and meaner but we weren't," Toronto (6-12) head coach Rusty Hodgkiss said. "They were all four of those things. Their defense started a lot of their offense. They did a nice job of bothering us. They got hands in the passing lanes. They challenged our shots and our drives.
"I was happy with how we played for three quarters. We were playing hard. I don't know how many turnovers we had, but it seemed like 30. The game got away from us in the fourth."
Kylie Maxwell and Elexis Martin each tallied a game-high 16 points to lead the way for Big Red.
"They ran a 2-3 zone and a 1-3-1," Lombardo said when asked if Toronto did anything different in the second meeting compared to the first. "They mixed it up, and that confused us for a little bit. For the most part, we did a pretty good job of executing our offense. We got a lot of good looks. In the second half, we shared the basketball, we made the extra pass and, when you do that, shots are going to fall."
No player for the Red Knights reached double figures. Jensyn Jackson netted a team-high seven points, while Riley Kinsey recorded five.
"They did not press us," Hodgkiss said. "They didn't have to. They played half-court man. They played two trips of a 2-3 zone. They played half-court man, and they pressured us. They pushed our half-court offense far out on the court. I thought (Aubrey) Thompson did a nice job pressuring us. She was a pest. She did a good job. She set the tone for their defense."
Big Red scored the first four points of the night, and the victors led 15-6 at the end of the first quarter. Big Red went nearly four minutes without a point in the second quarter, but it regrouped and extended its advantage to 23-9 at halftime.
"We had a winning streak, and then we lost two straight games," Lombardo said. "Saturday, we lost to Fort Frye, and Fort Frye is a great team. Bellaire gave it to us Monday. We didn't have an answer for Katrina Davis, and that cost us.
"As disappointing as the loss to Bellaire was, it was nice because we watched the film and were able to identify things we needed to work on that we may not have noticed during our winning streak. That loss exposed things that we needed to work on at practice."
Big Red increased their advantage to 38-19 after the third quarter. The visitors outscored the hosts, 21-6, in the fourth.
GAME NOTE
Big Red won the two-quarter JV game, 9-8. Samaria Blackwell collected a game-high six points for Big Red, while Brianna Burruss and Libby Grimes each scored three for the Red Knights.
UP NEXT
Steubenville: Hosts Martins Ferry on Monday.
Toronto: Hosts Beaver Local on Thursday.
Steubenville 59, Toronto 24
Steubenville 15-10-13-21 -- 59
Toronto 6-3-9-6 -- 24
STEUBENVILLE (11-5): Thompson 1 2-2 4; Gulan 2 1-3 7; Cucarese 2 0-0 5; Maxwell 6 3-6 16; Fields 2 2-2 6; Minniefiled 1 0-0 2; Martin 7 2-4 16; Blackwell 1 0-0 2; Hill 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 23, 9-17: 59.
TORONTO (6-12): Cottrell 1 0-3 2; Beckwith 0 1-2 1; Liddick 1 1-2 3; Kinsey 2 1-3 5; Donnelly 0 0-0 0; M. Anderson 1 2-3 4; Joumaa 0 0-0 0; Burress 0 0-0 0; Jackson 3 0-0 7; Leasure 0 0-0 0; J. Anderson 1 0-0 2; Grimes 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9, 5-13: 24.
3-POINTERS: Steubenville 4 (Gulan 2, Cucarese, Maxwell); Toronto 1 (Jackson).